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| Leela Palace Kempinsky Hotel,
Bangalore |
The Leela group's Rs 2,200 ($520m) crore expansion
plan is presently on track and the group has already
started designing its next phase of expansion.
The hotel major is planning to set up a chain of pilgrim
hotels across India and according to sources this would
be another Rs 1,000 crore ($240 m) project. "Pilgrim
hotels will cater to mid-market segment, there is such
a big demand," said CP Krishnan Nair, Chairman,
The Leela Palaces & Resorts.
The Leela group will double its room capacity from
1,200 at present to 2,700 over the next three years.
It is on a land acquisition spree and is planning new
hotel projects around Hyderabad and Bangalore airports.
Having got close to the airports it is even planning
to jointly develop Coonoor airport with Singapore's
Changi Airport. At a time when other Indian hotel chains
like the Taj and Oberoi are spreading wings abroad Captain
Nair believes that the untapped Indian market is where
the money is.
With foreigners descending on to India chasing business
opportunities he is only making sure he give international
hotel chains a tough fight in the home ground before
he faces them on a global platform.
In the previous issue
No. 162 delWine had reported that The Leela Palace
Kempinski Bangalore has been rated as the favourite
business hotel in the world by leading travel magazine
Conde Nast Traveller.
Report on: http://www.ndtvprofit.com/
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